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I'm very interested in this as well.  The only thing preventing me from using AGS is not having an OSX engine that works on modern versions.  Thanks for following up on it.

Thank you.  That helps clear some things up for me.  I'm glad it led to a bug fix.

I'm working on a utility to read in some of the AGS files.  I've started with the Sprite Cache.  I downloaded the source code for the engine and tried to decipher the file format from that.  However, I'm not sure it is correct.  Would anyone be able to confirm that the follow is accurate and if not, what is wrong with it?

Code: AGS

    <Header>
    word        version (6)
    string      SpriteFileSig (" Sprite File ")
    byte        Compressed (1 or 0)
    long        SpriteFileIDCheck
    word        Index of Last Sprite (Number of Sprites -1)
    
    <Sprite Header>
    word        bpss (Bytes per Color)
    word        Sprite Width
    word        Sprite Height
    
    <Compressed>
    long        Length
    byte        Array of bytes of Length in size   
    
    <Uncompressed>
    byte        Array of bytes of bpss * Sprite Width * Sprite Height (Could be word or long depending on Color depth)

Thanks.

Do you believe in magic?

That's awesome!  I can't wait to start trying it out.

Perhaps looking at the core for portability might be a good way to go.  I don't know how much effort it would be to recompile to OSX but it would be nice to have a Mac engine again.  The lack of an OSX engine is the only reason I have shied away from using AGS.  Otherwise, IMHO, AGS is the best game development kit available.

Also, I'm sure mac users would love regular, up-to-date builds of the editor.  Sure it's work, but to call it silly?

I would love this!  But as was already said by others, I would be happy even with a runtime engine for Mac.  Just as long as either option is kept up-to-date with the main editor.

Well, that's just an obfuscation way and also avoids using the games in a portable way. It could be better for users to find a multiplatform solution, based on encrypting the game files. It's a problem to the user, similar to other kinds of DRM

I wasn't talking about DRM which is meant to deal more with deterring theft of the game/media.  I was talking about encryption of the data which would deter the average joe from reverse engineering your game.  CJ had said in his original post that he didn't want to give out the file formats of the data files.  I was just making a suggestions on how to allow the file format too be public but have a small amount of protection similar to using a proprietary file format.

An end user wouldn't even notice that the encryption is there.  I'm also not sure what you are talking about when you said something about interfering with Multi-platform solutions.  Perhaps I misunderstood but there are encryption algorithms that are platform independent and should work the same on all platforms.  This isn't the same as DRM type algorithms which are more involved and can be platform specific depending on implementation.

If you want to protect your AGS files from being reverse engineered, why not use some sort of encryption where the editor allows you to assign a key to the game and encrypt the data files when the game executable is created? That way anyone can create a key that is unique to their game but only protects the end game files and not the editor files.

Wow!  I think this is very interesting.  Please continue to share with us your findings on the conversion as you go along.  Thanks.

Thank you for your input.  I've been watching the Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity and a couple of others.  I see how the crime is solved but the characters are still broken.  There always seemed to be a twisted or sudden betrayal somewheres.

I think I'm leaning towards a Beat Cop or Detective that through the course of the game may become a P. I. as it were.  First, he is taken off the case indicating some kind of corruption and then later after the game is finished, he leaves the force because he crossed the blue line to be a PI or is taken in by a special task force (if I go the paranormal route).  Then I could build future stories on that.

I'm not so sure I can do the dialog of the Noir 30/40s films any justice.  So I might stick to modern or slightly futuristic just with a dark, suspenseful atmosphere.  If I did go the paranormal route I was almost thinking of verging on Call of Cthulhu but not exactly to that extent.  It's just that the suspense and thriller aspect of that game attracts me to its atmosphere.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll look at the movies and links that you all suggested.  Thanks again.

Fantasy is the genre that I know best but I recently got the urge to make a detective story.  Whether we're talking Hard-boiled or even slightly Noir, I'm interested in looking at this genre.  I wanted something slightly dark and mysterious may a little paranormal but not too over the top.  But I would like to do it right, if I can.  I'd like some input because I don't know where to start writing the story for one.  Any thoughts?  What makes a good detective story?

Which would you rather have as the investigator?  A P.I? Detective?  Beat Cop? or a Reporter?  If I understand the genre, it is traditionally the 30/40s time period but do you think it could be modern or even slightly futuristic?  Do you feel that it should be done in Grayscale or Sepia? or full color?

I was thinking of making it a serial killer or a whodunit type mystery.  Any thoughts as per inspiration for characters or story?  Movies?  Games?

Thanks.

J

When assigning sprites to a view, could we be able to highlight all of the sprites for all of the loops and choose assign from the popup menu.  Then we designate the number of loops and then for each loop say what the direction and number of frames are.  That way we can define a complete view in one step rather than 8 assignments.  Thanks.

I have two iMacs that I render my graphics with.  I would love to see a proper OSX runtime engine for AGS 3.2.  Is anyone working on this?  If not, where do we get the source code to start with?

It seems to be fixed in 3.2 RC2.  The player stutters a bit when they collide but he doesn't just glide to a finish.  He attempts to walk around the following character.

Thanks.  I think it is off but I'll double check.

Could the properties just be used to override the current functionality with the baseline work around?  That way you don't have to remove them but they no longer do what they currently are doing.

Could the view creation wizard that I suggested (or some variation of) be implemented?  ( http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37874.msg497684#msg497684 )  Thanks.

J

The About screen says:  3.1.2.82 (v3.1.2 SP1, February 2009).  Thanks.

J

I just checked and, yes, both are solid.  The strange thing is that the player's walk animation stops but he just glides along with no animation to his original destination as if he tried to stop walking but didn't.

I'm not sure if it is me or if AGS has some odd behavior.  But when my player character has a follower, walking near the player and the player doubles back onto the follower, the player stops animating his walk and begins sliding along to his destination instead of stopping on the spot where the two collided.  Any suggestions on what I can do to fix this?  Thanks.

J